Chapter Nine
It became the new routine.
Twice a month, Luis went to Julien and Karim’s house earlier than he normally would, and Karim prepared dinner. He ate under Karim’s watchful eyes, and he and Julien talked about movies or music or antiques.
The food Karim made was the best meal Luis had on any given week, and somehow it began Pavloving his treatments to be a more pleasant experience.
Tonight, as a change of pace, Julien was giving him a house tour as Luis sipped through his mandatory-after-phlebotomy juice. This one was raspberry and lime because Karim thought Luis might like it. He’d been right.
“Luckily, we’re far enough from neighbors that we didn’t have to deal with noise ordinances during the remodel,” Julien was saying as they took the staircase up to the second floor.
Luis had never been to the second floor, and his eyes were roving everywhere, taking in the artwork that lined the staircase, the beautiful fixtures of the house.
And then he couldn’t stop noticing that a lot of the art was from the same artist, a lot of it was… very naked.
“It would’ve been a nightmare to handle a daytime construction crew,” Julien went on.
“We hired some human workers in the beginning, but Karim had strong feelings about quality construction and wanted to be able to oversee everything. Not to mention all the roadblocks we ran into. You’d be surprised how many discoveries about a place are made in the middle of demolition. ”
Karim grumbled under his breath about the house’s ancient plumbing.
“Yeah, I bet,” Luis said. They passed another painting, and Luis had to ask. “You have a lot of… angel art.”
“Julien’s obsessed with Francois Boucher’s putti paintings.” Karim interjected. “They’re all naked angel babies.”
Luis laughed before he could stop himself. “I, uh, see.”
“He’s one of the most decorated artists of the 18th century,” Julien said stiffly. “It’s not my fault you cannot appreciate the Rococo style.”
Karim huffed. “If you’ve seen one naked angel baby, you’ve seen them all.”
“They’re not—” Julien made an undignified sound, and when Luis glanced back, Karim had wrapped his arm around Julien and was kissing neck.
Luis quickly looked away.
“I know, I know. I’ve never protested you buying them, have I? I’m just teasing you,” Karim said.
“Yes, well,” Julien said and cleared his throat. “Let me show you the library Luis, it’s the second door on the right.”
The tour went through everything but their personal bedroom. Every room had its own color profile, but they blended together seamlessly. It was clear a lot of love and attention had been put into the house. Luis felt honored to get to see it all.
“So many baby butts,” Karim whispered conspiratorially to Luis as they passed another painting featuring naked cherubs.
Julien, who’d been walking ahead of them, talking about importing part of the stairwell from France, gave Karim a look.
“–It still astonishes me how little taste you have for the finer things after all this time.”
Karim grinned. He left Luis’s side to slink over to the other vampire. “I’ve got taste for just one fine thing,” he flirted, wrapping his arms around Julien again.
They’d both already had a serving of his blood this evening. Luis’s cheeks splashed again with heat. He always felt like he should excuse himself in times like these, but couldn’t figure out how.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught Karim playing with the top buttons to Julien’s shirt.
“Mmm,” Julien hummed, capturing Karim's wandering hand. “Dearest, we haven’t gone out yet.”
“How about we skip it,” Karim suggested. The low tone pulled at Luis. Tonight, Karim had pulled his hair back into a low ponytail, loose wisps framing his face. Luis had spent a considerable amount of his self-restraint this evening not thinking how good he looked. “Get right to—”
“And furthermore,” Julien said, cutting him off loudly. “We have company.”
Karim’s attention moved to Luis. Luis kept his own gaze fixated on one of the naked angels.
“I can go,” Luis said, but the second the words were out, he knew he didn’t want to. He liked these evenings, liked being with them and getting a peek into their world.
“No, no,” Julien said. He carefully pried Karim off. “If we don’t go for a drink, this one will wake up midweek hungry, and moan at me about having to drink from the fridge. You hate the bottle, isn’t that what you’re always complaining about?”
Luis looked to see Karim make a face.
“Exactly, so.” Julien’s hands turned Karim around, giving him a gentle nudge in the right direction. “Let’s go get you that drink.”
“Fine,” Karim said, and didn’t resist Julien moving them back the way they’d come.
“Luis, are you well enough to drive?” Despite how many weeks it had been, Julien asked every time.
“Yep,” Luis said quickly.
At the entry Luis retrieved his keys as Julien tugged Karim out into the night air.
“You’re no fun,” Karim huffed to Julien as Luis locked the front door. “Luis wouldn’t–”
“Luis is uncomfortable,” Julien cut in, sharply. “And you’re trying to make half-considered decisions while intoxicated. You should know better.”
“They’re fully considered,” Karim shot back.
But Julien just opened the car door and guided Karim in with a firm hand. “Hush. We can discuss this later.”
Luis didn’t totally grasp what they were talking about, but sometimes that was par for the course. They had a lot of history, and sometimes their conversations happened in a glance or clips of words that served as code. Luis tried not to mind being on the outside of it.
He started the car, keeping his eyes off the rearview mirror. He had a job to do, he reminded himself.
##
“So, you have… like a blood cancer?” Karim asked two weeks later the moment that Julien disappeared behind the curtain.
Luis cringed. “Sort of,” he hedged.
“I looked it up, what conditions produce too much blood. Most of them are considered cancers,” Karim said.
Luis shrugged, tried for casual. “Yeah.”
“And there’s no cure?” This question came softer, like Karim was unsure he should ask.
“No,” Luis said. The word was rough around the edges.
Karim’s fingers tapped the table thoughtfully. “What about vampirism?”
Luis looked up. “What?”
“If you have an incurable condition, that’s usually when people go for the Change,” Karim said. “I mean, it’s a process, but if you’ve got a terminal condition, you could get a permit easy.”
That… had never occurred to Luis. He’d never looked into what went into the Change or who was allowed to do it.
He knew it was somewhat regulated, had heard and even been dragged to protests about it before because people like his mother thought the Change should be banned altogether.
The Purists, the most infamous anti-vampire group, were constantly campaigning to ban it.
“I’ve never thought about it,” Luis admitted. “I–my mom’s pretty anti-vampire. I don’t think that option ever came up.”
“Is it something you’d be interested in?” Karim asked.
Luis frowned. Interested in becoming a vampire? The very idea of it was difficult to grasp. “Um. I don’t know,” Luis said. “I–it would cure me?”
Karim nodded. “It doesn’t repair whatever damage your body already has, but it would sort of… permanently pause it. In your case, you wouldn’t have human blood anymore, so you couldn't have a human blood disease.”
“Oh.” He licked his lips, his mouth dry. He’d never–he couldn’t–
But… could he? If his condition got bad enough, if his life was in danger…?
Cassie would choose the Change for him in a second if it was that or death. She hadn’t grown up with anti-vampire rhetoric shoved down her throat. She had no complicated feelings on the issue.
But could Luis ever make that decision?
Karim was being uncharacteristically silent across from him. He seemed to be waiting.
Luis’s phone pinged, and he jumped. Cassie never texted him on a Friday night, so it had to be his mother. As if the mere conversation had conjured her.
If he did the Change, he’d have to tell her. There’d be no hiding it. People in the vicinity of vampires sensed that they were vampires.
Luis knew if it was between vampirism and death though, his mother would rather he die. Then his eternal soul would be saved.
“Alright, fine, didn’t think it was that distasteful a choice,” Karim said, breaking the silence.
Luis had been making a face; he felt the stiffness in his mouth. “Uh, no. Not that–sorry. I was thinking about my mom. She hates vampires. Like, hates them.”
Something in Karim's expression shifted. For a moment he looked different, his expression brittle. “Ah. Family stuff. Yeah, I know how that is.”
There’d been a lot of hints, but now there was an opening to ask. “Do you also have family that… hates vampires?” Luis asked.
Karim’s eyes got hard, flinty. “Had,” he said simply.
“Oh.” He wanted to ask more, wanted to press, but Karim’s expression was a little scary.
Luis scratched the back of his neck. “Well, yeah, so, no. I’ve never considered vampirism.
Um.” He reached for his water for something to do.
“Maybe that sounds stupid, but none of my doctors ever mentioned it as an option. I don’t know. ”
Of course, the doctors wouldn’t have. His mother had always made sure to take him to professionals that aligned with her beliefs. Even into adulthood Luis had stayed with them because they had a history. He hadn’t considered a second opinion.
Karim took a breath and let it out, his shoulders loosening again. “Makes sense. Especially if you grew up sheltered.”
Yeah. Yeah, sheltered. Luis’s phone in his pocket buzzed again, and he reached to silence it without looking.
“Could we talk about something else?” Luis asked.
Karim nodded. “Yeah, sure, sorry.”
The apology only made Luis feel worse. Karim wasn’t someone who apologized.
Ugh.
He cast around for anything else to talk about, and his eyes landed on the back curtain.
“So, uh, you bite them back there?” Luis asked.